Kingdom of Naples

The Kingdom of Naples was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States from 1282 until 1816. It began after the War of the Sicilian Vespers between 1282 and 1302. Before this, the island of Sicily and southern Italy were both part of the "Kingdom of Sicily". When Sicily revolted and became part of the Crown of Aragon, it became a separate kingdom, still called the Kingdom of Sicily. The mainland part, around Naples, stayed with Charles of Anjou, who also called it the "Kingdom of Sicily".

Over time, different families ruled the Kingdom of Naples. In the late 1300s, two branches of the Angevin family fought for control, which led to difficult times for the kingdom. Later, Joanna II chose Alfonso V of Aragon as her heir, and in 1442 he brought Naples into his Aragonese lands.

During the Italian Wars, France took control for a short time, but by the early 1500s, Spain took over and kept control for many years. After the War of the Spanish Succession, control changed again. In 1734, Charles, Duke of Parma took over during the War of the Polish Succession and became King of Naples and Sicily. Finally, in 1816, Naples and Sicily joined together to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

The Kingdom of Naples was one of the largest and most important Italian states of its time. Its lands included what are now the Italian regions of Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise, and parts of Lazio.

Nomenclature

Historians almost always call this place the "Kingdom of Naples," even though its leaders did not use that name. The rulers called it the Kingdom of Sicily. After a big agreement in 1302 called the Peace of Caltabellotta, the name changed to Kingdom of Sicily Citra Farum, meaning "on this side of the lighthouse." Over time, people started calling it the Kingdom of Naples.

Back then, people told the two parts of Sicily apart by where they were. The part on the Italian peninsula was called Sicily citra Farum, meaning "on this side of the lighthouse." The island part was called Sicily ultra Farum, meaning "on the other side." Later, when one ruler controlled both, this way of naming them became official. In 1816, the two parts joined together to become the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

History

Background

See also: Kingdom of Sicily

Naples became the capital of the Duchy of Naples in the 7th century. In 1137, it surrendered to Roger II of Sicily and joined the Kingdom of Sicily. The Normans brought unity to southern Italy after the Byzantines failed to reclaim it. They created a kingdom that included both southern mainland Italy and the island of Sicily, mostly ruled from Palermo. The title King of Sicily was first used in 1130 by the Antipope Anacletus II and later approved by Pope Innocent II in 1139. Because the popes gave the Normans control, later popes like Pope Innocent III and Pope Innocent IV claimed the Church State had rights over the kingdom. After Constance, Queen of Sicily married Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, their son Frederick II became King of Sicily. The area that later became the Kingdom of Naples was part of this kingdom, which included Sicily and Apulia.

Angevin dynasty

See also: Artistic patronage of the Neapolitan Angevin dynasty

In 1282, a rebellion forced King Charles I of Sicily to leave Sicily, but he kept control of the mainland, which became known as the "Kingdom of Naples" after its capital city.

Charles and his Angevin successors kept claiming Sicily, fighting the Aragonese until 1373 when Queen Joan I of Naples gave up the claim with the Treaty of Villeneuve. Joan's rule was challenged by Louis the Great, the Angevin King of Hungary, who took control several times between 1348 and 1352.

Queen Joan I adopted Louis I, Duke of Anjou as her heir, even though her cousin, the Prince of Durazzo, also wanted the throne. This led to conflict, and Joan I was killed by the Prince of Durazzo in 1382 when he took the throne as Charles III of Naples.

The two competing Angevin lines fought for control of Naples for many years. In 1389, Louis II of Anjou took the throne from Ladislas of Naples but was driven out in 1399. Joanna II (r. 1414–1435) chose Alfonso V of Aragon and later Louis III of Anjou as heirs, finally picking René of Anjou from the junior Angevin line, who became king in 1435.

Aragonese dynasty

In 1442, Alfonso V conquered the Kingdom of Naples, uniting Sicily and Naples again under Aragon. When he died in 1458, the War of the Neapolitan Succession began, and Naples was inherited by Ferdinand I, Alfonso's son.

When Ferdinand I died in 1494, Charles VIII of France invaded Italy, claiming the throne of Naples through an old agreement. This started the Italian Wars.

From French rule to Spanish viceroyalty

Charles VIII drove Alfonso II of Naples from Naples in 1495 but had to leave because Ferdinand II of Aragon supported Alfonso II's son Ferrantino. Ferrantino was restored but died in 1496 and was succeeded by his uncle, Frederick IV.

Charles VIII's successor, Louis XII, again claimed Naples. In 1501, he took over Naples and agreed to share it with Ferdinand of Aragon. However, disagreements led to renewed war in 1502. Spanish forces led by Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova pushed out the French, and by 1504, Ferdinand controlled the kingdom, making Naples part of the Crown of Aragon.

Though peace treaties were signed, they were not lasting, but they confirmed that the title of King of Naples belonged to Ferdinand's grandson, the future Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Ferdinand kept control, seeing himself as the rightful heir of Alfonso I of Naples (Alfonso V of Aragon) and the former Kingdom of Sicily (Regnum Utriusque Siciliae).

The kingdom was still fought over by France and Spain for many years, but French attempts to take control weakened as Habsburg power grew.

In 1544, Algerian sailors attacked the Bay of Naples and captured around 7,000 people.

Spanish rule

France finally gave up its claims to Naples with the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559. The Treaty of London in 1557 made five coastal cities in Tuscany part of the Kingdom of Naples as the Stato dei Presidi (State of the Presidi).

As Spain's most populated holding outside Castile (with about 3 million people in 1600), Naples was very important for Spain's economy and military. Heavy taxes were placed on Naples to pay for Spain's wars, especially after 1580. Naples paid for troops in the Eighty Years' War and a large part of Spain's military spending in the Duchy of Milan. This cost about 800,000 ducats each year, a third of Naples' income. The kingdom also owed money, and interest payments took 40 percent of all tax money. Though Naples was wealthy, it struggled with debt and high military costs. From 1612 to 1646, taxes tripled and debt grew five times, with 57 percent of income going to interest. Spain's wars hurt Naples badly. About 90 percent of taxes went to paying state creditors, meaning the effective interest rate was 70 percent yearly on borrowed money. Naples sold off state lands, buildings, and titles to raise funds, often to local nobles.

Because of these heavy taxes, people in Naples rebelled in 1647, creating the Neapolitan Republic with help from France. The revolt was crushed later that year by Spanish forces.

Austrian Habsburgs and Bourbons

After the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 1700s, control of the kingdom changed again. The Treaty of Rastatt in 1714 gave Naples to Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor. He also took Sicily in 1720, but Austrian rule did not last. Both Naples and Sicily were taken by a Spanish army during the War of the Polish Succession in 1734, and Charles, Duke of Parma, a younger son of King Philip V of Spain, became King of Naples and Sicily in 1735. When Charles became King of Spain in 1759, he left Naples and Sicily to his son, Ferdinand IV. Though Naples and Sicily were ruled by the same family under the Habsburgs and Bourbons, they remained separate kingdoms.

As a Bourbon, Ferdinand IV opposed the French Revolution and Napoleon. In November 1798, he began the War of the Second Coalition by briefly taking Rome but was driven out by French forces. In December 1798, Ferdinand fled Naples to Palermo as French troops approached. In January 1799, France set up a Parthenopaean Republic, but it did not last long. A local uprising helped Ferdinand return to Naples. However, in 1801, he had to agree to the Treaty of Florence, giving France more influence in Italy.

Napoleonic kingdom

Ferdinand's decision to side with the Third Coalition against Napoleon in 1805 led to problems. In 1806, after Napoleon defeated the coalition at Austerlitz and the Neapolitans at Campo Tenese, Napoleon made his brother, Joseph King of Naples. When Joseph left for Spain in 1808, Napoleon's sister Caroline and her husband Joachim Murat took over.

Ferdinand escaped to Sicily, where he kept his throne, though Murat tried to invade. The British protected Sicily during the war, but Ferdinand and Britain could not challenge French control of mainland Italy.

After Napoleon was defeated in 1814, Murat made a deal with Austria and kept the throne of Naples. But when Napoleon returned in 1815 (the Hundred Days), Murat sided with him. Hoping to gain support from Italian nationalists, Murat issued the Rimini Proclamation.

The Neapolitan War between Murat and Austria ended quickly with Austria's victory at the Battle of Tolentino. Murat fled but was captured and executed in Pizzo, Calabria. In 1816, the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily were united into the new Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Demographics

Languages

The Kingdom of Naples had many languages because of its rich history. The official language was Italian, used for important things like schools and government work. But people spoke many different languages every day. In places like Campania and Calabria, people mainly spoke Neapolitan and Calabrian dialects. In Sicily, the main language was Sicilian. There were also smaller groups of people who spoke Greek in Calabria and Puglia, and Albanian in Sicily and Calabria. These languages showed the many cultures that lived in the area over time.

Religions

The main religion in the Kingdom of Naples was Roman Catholicism, and it played a big role in everyday life. The Catholic Church ran many schools and helped people in need. There were also small Jewish communities in cities like Naples and Palermo. Other smaller groups followed the Greek-Catholic rite, especially in Calabria and Sicily, because of past Byzantine influence and Albanian immigrants. These groups kept their traditions but stayed connected to the Catholic Church.

Customs and traditions

The Neapolitan Republic of 1647 had a big impact on later revolutions in Europe, even influencing the French Revolution. Travellers in the 18th and 19th centuries wrote about how people in Naples sometimes ate spaghetti with their hands, which became a famous tradition. This custom was shown in old movies too. Naples was described in different ways over the years, sometimes as a lively but rough place.

Scientists and philosophers of the Kingdom of Naples

The Kingdom of Naples was home to many important scientists and thinkers over the centuries. Some of these included doctors, mathematicians, astronomers, and philosophers who made big discoveries and shared new ideas.

Notable figures from this time include Trotula, an early pioneer in women's medicine, and Trota of Salerno, a doctor. Later, Barlaam of Seminara contributed to mathematics and philosophy, while Pietro Ranzano was a historian and Dominican friar. Luca Gaurico and Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia advanced the fields of astronomy and anatomy, respectively.

Other important scientists included Giordano Bruno, who supported new ideas about the solar system, and Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, who studied movement in animals and plants. Later figures like Annibale de Gasparis discovered new objects in space, and Vincenzo Cerulli studied planets like Mars and Venus.

Flags

The Kingdom of Naples used different flags over its history.

• 1282–1442: The Angevin flag of Naples.
• 1442–1516: The flag changed after Alfonso I of the House of Trastámara became King.
• 1516–1734: The kingdom adopted the flag of the Spanish Empire when the Habsburg Charles V became King of Naples.
• 1714–1734: The flag changed after Charles VI became King.
• 1735–1806; 1815–1816: The flag changed after Charles VII became King of Naples. The flag was reinstated after the Napoleonic Wars.
• 1806–1808: The flag of Naples changed after Joseph Bonaparte became king.
• 1808–1811: The flag of Naples changed after Joachim Murat became king.
• 1811–1815: The flag of Naples changed.